Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States:State Legislative Response Models

Elizabeth LaMura*

I.Introduction

“[In the United States], [w]hen a littlegirl is sold by her impoverished family. . . runs away from home, or is luredby the false promises of a better life,and then imprisoned in a brothel andtortured if she resists -- that’s slavery.It is barbaric, and it is evil, and it hasno place in a civilized world.”- U.S. President BarackObama1

In the past decade, there has been a call to action for the
United States to address “one of the greatest human rights causes of
our time”—human trafficking.2 Human trafficking is currently one of
* Research Fellow, Quinnipiac University School of Law. Quinnipiac University
School of Law, J.D. 2012; University of Connecticut, B.A., 2008. Special thanks to
Professor Joseph Olivenbaum and David Falkoff for their editorial assistance and
helpful advice. Thanks to my family for their continuous support of my work.
1 President Barack Obama, Remarks by the President to the Clinton Global
Initiative (Sept. 25, 2012) [hereinafter Remarks by the President], available at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/25/remarks-president-clinton-
global-initiative.

2 Id.; see also Laurel Bellows, Op-Ed., Victims of Human Trafficking Need Our
Help, STAMFORD ADVOC., Jan. 10, 2013,
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/opinion/article/Op-Ed-Victims-of-human-
trafficking-need-our-help-4184054.php (discussing the American Bar Association’s
(“ABA”) dedication to changing the way America’s justice system handles human
trafficking, which has become “one of the largest organized criminal enterprises in
the world.” Additionally, it is explained that the ABA will work on an “increased
awareness” about this largely hidden issue which “will bring a shift in resources
and policies that better reflect the realities of the crime”).